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Date : Nov 2003 - TAHITI / MARQUESAS
 A final return?
Negotiations are under way to permanently host one or several of Gauguin in Polynesia.
Our report on Gauguin
With the enormous success of the exhibition dedicated to Gauguin at the Museum of Tahiti and her Islands (April to July 2003 - over 16,000 visitors), many visitors were able to discover some original work of the famous painter of the Marquesas, on a loan from the Orsay Museum in Paris. During their visit, many visitors were surprised that there was no major original work by Gauguin in Tahiti and the Marquesas. This soon could change, for the benefit of our tourists and the Polynesians. With the Museum's newly upgraded standards of security and conservation, one or several works by Gauguin could indeed return to the Polynesian land, where Gauguin lived and painted most of his master pieces. Gauguin settled in Tahiti in 1891, then moved to the Marquesas in 1901 and finally died there in 1903. After a recent visit by Gaston Flosse, the President of French Polynesia, of the special Gauguin exhibition at the Grand-Palais in Paris, Jacques Chirac declared that the return of one, and perhaps several works by Gauguin could now be considered. A story to be continued...
PAUL GAUGUIN MEMORIAL INAUGURATED IN ATUONA, HIVA-OA, MARQUESAS
In Atuona, in the Marquesas archipelago of French Polynesia, on Thursday May 8, 2003, at 3PM local time, at the very place and on the very day where Paul Gauguin died 100 years ago, the township of Hiva Oa officially inaugurated the Paul Gauguin Museum it created to honor the artist's memory. Built on the same piece of land that Gauguin bought from Mgr. Martin to build his famous "Maison du jouir" (House of Pleasure), this brand new cultural area has three main objectives:
  1 – L’ESPACE D’EVOCATION
 Dedicated to Paul Gauguin, it offers to the visitors a thematic visit specially designed and adapted to the discovery of the man who rebelled against the society of his time but also of the artist and his work. The visit is accompanied with a narration in French, English and Marquesan in order to reach as many visitors as possible. Although there is no original work by the artist, this center offers a visit essentially based on work reproduction: many excellent copies, reproductions, photographs, replicas, electronic publications, molds, etc. Although the exhibition features implemented use all the techniques applied to museum and exhibition enhancement, there is no ambiguity as to the non museum quality of the center.
The three themes of this memorial have been named after three quotes by Gauguin, which are representative of his life's major events.
“FLEEING AWAY TO REACH ART ”
This sequence gives the visitors an opportunity to discover and understand, through work reproductions, letters or articles, the motivations for the artist's various departures to new destinations and the creations that resulted. In this same area, a time line of Paul Gauguin's life between 1848 and 1903 is highlighted along with major events of his time and the evolution of art in this period.
“ THE RIGHT TO DARE ALL THINGS IN ART ”
Active member of the French artistic avant garde, Paul Gauguin actively participated to the creation of a new relationship between the artist and Art. As such, he was one of the very first artists to mix, without hierachical order, painting, sculpture, ceramics or etchings. This center highlights his desire to experiment and it shows the evolution of his artistic researches.
“ TO BE PART OF A PRIMITIVE CULTURE ”
This third stage in the thematic visit makes it possible for the visitor to understand Gauguin's desire to immerge himself in "exotic" cutures and societies, in search of the impact they could have on his art. In this same area, one will get an idea of what the village of Atuona in the early 20th century through photographs and archives documents.
  THE "MAISON DU JOUIR"
A faithful reconstitution from plans drawn by Le Bronnec of the artist's last home, the "Maison du jouir" is an integral part of the general thematic visit. Its upper floor is used as a temporary exhibition room to showcase works by local artists or artists invited in the context of the center's cultural activities.
2 - THE ARTIST'S HOME
The second major component of this innovative cultural center is the creation of a home for artists, thus concretizing the project that was so dear to Van Gogh and Gauguin to create their "Atelier des Tropiques" (Tropics Workshop). Located at the heart of the Pacific Ocean, Atuona seems to exercise a power of attraction on artists, among whom Paul Gauguin and Jacques Brel are only the most representative examples. To make it possible to others to also fall under the spell of the Marquesas, measures have been taken so that artists of international renown can spend some time in one of the three fare (houses) of the residence. They just have to pay for the airfare and food, while lodging and the availability of a workshop is offered courtesy of Atuona's Cultural Center.
3 - CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
The Paul Gauguin Memorial will also be a temporary exhibition area: an approach with loaned works may be implemented as well as, more generally, all initiatives to make it possible to include in the long term the Center in the heart of the local life. For this inauguration, the "Maison du Jouir" (House of Pleasure) hosts the works of local and foreign artists. Each artist may display one work on the top floor of the "Maison du Jouir".
Hiva Oa Artists: Charles BONNO, Jan VAN DRUNEN, Tuarae PETERANO, Catherine CHAVAILLON, Jean OBERLIN, Christian DUHAL, David FABRE
Artists working at the Atuona Atelier des Tropiques: Melissa FERREIRA, Robin QUIGLEY, Sylvie TOUX, Etienne TROUVERS, Pierre PIRSON.
Artists living in Tahiti : UEVA TANE, Eriki MARCHAND, Laiza PAUTEHEA, Suzanne GOLAZ, Raymond VIGOR, Fanette SALMON TAUIRA.
 See our report on the life of Paul Gauguin in Polynesia
See our story of Gauguin special exhibition in Paris
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